Wrong Species
by inactive account cries
Summary: AU "You never leave your house to hunt... you walk around freely in daylight... your skin is like solid fire... that can only mean you're a..." A cliché gone wrong. No pairings yet.
1. Hearing Aid

Hokay... for this story, I decided to take an overused plot and sort of flop it around a bit (though in the process I seem to have accidentaly added a different one. Nice going, huh Nutso?) You should be able to guess the cliché fairly easily, unless you're _really _unattentive.

And can someone please tell me if disclaimers are necessary? I don't remember reading about them in the guidlines.

Also, this story is T for now, but it may evolve to M depending on where I take the boys' relationship.

Now that that's all over... please enjoy!

~|\/|~

A silvery-haired boy flopped down lazily on the east side of his sloping rooftop. School wasn't going to begin for several hours, and he had decided to forgo hunting that evening due to how full the moon was. He let its dim light wash over his face. Oh yes, he was glad he had come up here instead of going off into the nearby forest.

Of course, Riku would be in trouble if his mother came back to find he had never left... perhaps he should catch a squirrel or something? _But they're so damn _furry... Riku didn't enjoy mouthfuls of fluff, no thank you.

He was broken from his musings at the sight of two cars and a truck heading his way. He tried to keep an eye on them without looking suspicious, blue-green eyes glinting in the moonlight.

As it turned out, the truck was actually a moving van- someone had _finally _bought the house next to theirs! Apparently his evening was going to be even better than expected, and as an added bonus, now he had an excuse for not going hunting. _Perfect._

Riku rolled down the side of the roof, stopping just short of the edge right as the three vehicles pulled into the next driveway over from his own. The moving men jumped out of the truck immediately, while the actual family took a little longer getting out of their respective cars.

He saw a tall, thin, stoic-looking man get out of one car, then the passenger door of the other opened and a wiry brunette jumped out. Riku could tell immediately that this kid was going to be a chatterbox, from the way he was going on leaped about. It seemed he hadn't even paused his conversation to get out of the car. Riku honed in his ears on the boy.

"-why we have to move practically in the _middle _of the _night, _I'm going to be so wiped out in the morning-"

Hm.

Now _that _was odd. Why was this kid complaining? Sunlight was bad for your skin, everyone knew that. And of course he would be tired in the morning, that's when everyone slept after all.

"I've explained this to you already, Sora, this is the time people around here do things. Arriving at noon for them would be like arriving at midnight for us. We don't want to disturb our neighbours, now, do we?" This... Sora's mother seemed very worn out. Riku wondered where the bouncy boy got his energy from.

"Stop pestering your mother, Sora, and start unpacking the cars."

"'Kay..."

From that, conversations between the three mostly ceased, though Sora continued to ramble on about trivial things. Riku soon lost interest and scooched back into his moonbathing position. Amazing that these new neighbours hadn't noticed him yet.

Some time later, Sora had apparently gotten bored with unpacking and raced out of the house and down the street. Riku watched bemusedly as Sora's mother ran out after him and shouted 'be careful's and 'don't stay out long's at his retreating back.

"Don't worry, mom, I won't let anyone attack me!" With that, the mother went back into the house with yet another load of boxes.

What a strange family.

Riku decided to follow Sora.

~|\/|~

After a while of chasing the brown-haired boy through the various streets running through their subdivision, Riku began to grow rather confused. Shouldn't Sora have sensed him by now, and asked what he was doing? Perhaps Riku was unwittingly participating in a game of the new boy's? Riku decided to find out. He sped up his silent running immensely, and dashed right in front of the boy, who barely stopped in time.

"Woah-WAHHHHH!" Riku caught Sora's arm to keep him from falling over, but let go almost immediately. For a second there, he thought he had felt body heat under his cold hand. The other boy shook his head and gave an uneasy smile up towards Riku. "Umm... well... that was... unexpected... hi there?"

"So you _didn't _know I was following you?"

Sora looked perplexed. "Of course not, you just popped up out of nowhere and- wait- _following _me? Are you, like, the neighbourhood stalker or something?"

Riku laughed. "No... I'm not a stalker, I just wanted to meet you properly, plus school is starting pretty soon and you just so happened to be heading right towards it." The other boy blinked. "Starting... soon? But it's already... hm." Riku looked at him oddly. "Nevermind... I guess you must be one of my new neighbours?"

"Sure am, I live right next to you now, actually."

"_Really? _Well, how come you didn't say hi then?"

"I had been watching you guys from my roof, it would have been a little weird."

Sora paused, and for a moment Riku thought he was angry, but then came, "Are you _sure _you're not a stalker?" Sora stared at him suspiciously for a moment, then they both broke out in giggles (or chuckles, because Riku didn't do giggling.)

"I think we're gonna be good friends."

~|\/|~

Riku had settled on walking Sora home despite the time; the poor boy had somehow forgotten the way he had come and Riku didn't think one tardy would be too big of a deal. As they were meandering along, however, a smell hit Riku's nose that made him remember his decision not to have breakfast. His stomach growled loudly, and Sora looked at him sideways before giggling again.

"It's not funny! I'm _hungry. _And I can't eat when we get back; Mom'll just tell me off for not hunting earlier and send me to school. And don't you _smell _that?" Riku inhaled more directly, and the mystery smell made him groan inwardly. What _was _it?

"What are you talking about? I don't smell anything."

Riku stopped walking and turned slightly towards Sora. "Are you _serious? _How can you not smell that... it's making my stomach eat itself." He struggled to think what it could be coming from. Certainly not any of the normal animals around here. Maybe it was someone's exotic pet? But that didn't make sense, he was sure whoever owned the pet would have drank from it as soon as they bought it. _He _most certainly wouldn't be able to hold back.

Sora shrugged, and they pressed on. "I dunno what it is you think you're smelling... maybe the hunger is making you delusional."

"I'm not delusional!"

The brunette laughed. "Sure, sure... well, whatever it is, forget about it for now. You can come eat something quick at my place if you want, I'm sure Mom won't mind."

Riku stopped again, and not just because they were at their houses. "_Make _something? Yeah right. What's she gonna do, conjure up a rabbit out of thin air? You're a real laugh, Sora." He grinned and mussed up the other boy's hair. "I'll just catch something small on my way to school. See you later?"

"Yeah... sure." Riku didn't miss the funny way Sora had looked at him just then, but he didn't think much of it until long afterwards.

~|\/|~

How bad was it? Plot still way overused? Is there something bugging you about the way I type or describe things? Well, you can comment, criticize, compliment, and complain all you want if you just leave a review! Otherwise, I'm afraid I can't help you much.

~The Bad Nut


	2. Cologne

'Kay... so I felt like the last chapter was a teensy bit rushed, with all the hints and everything. I'm trying to slow things down, but I dunno if I was successful or not.

I guess we shall find out, shall we not?

~|\/|~

"...the y-value for zero will become c, and 4 factorial will divide into the..."

Riku, who had been sitting in Algebra bored out of his mind when he decided to actually pay attention, zoned back out again. Staring out the window wouldn't work; it was almost midnight, and no matter how superior his vision was, the fact remained that nothing was happening at this hour. He sighed mentally. _So _tedious...

Honestly, when would they ever need to know these things in real life? He didn't recall ever being faced with a difficult math problem in order to catch a rabbit in time- he just CAUGHT it, and payed no attention to how long it took or anything.

His thoughts drifted to Sora, the oddball brunette who was new to their town. He'd have to ask Sora what kind of animals he preferred, or if he even _had _a preference. Maybe they could go hunting together.

Although...

Just what had Sora meant when he said his mother could have made something? He had never heard of a vampire with those kinds of powers; conjuring was for devils and witches, but _they _had been extinct for such a long time, Sora couldn't be a witch.

It must have just been a slip of the tongue.

Satisfied with that, Riku nestled his head back into his arms until the Algebra professor walked by and whacked him across the back of the head.

~|\/|~

Come hunts-hour, Riku decided he wasn't all that hungry and resolved to go find the little brunette that had been the subject of his thoughts for the better part of a day. Surely he would be out and about, no doubt exploring the woods surrounding their subdivision or something.

Riku ran in that direction.

Oh, the forest was simply gorgeous at this hour... the moon sending little rays of silver light everywhere it could, and there wasn't much wind, so eveything was peaceful and still.

But he wasn't here to admire moonbeams, he had a small, chatty young boy to find.

Out of habit, Riku inhaled deeply through his nose- this felt almost like a hunt, where the first thing to do was always to find a scent.

However, he was _not _expecting to find that delicious smell from earlier again.

_Why _did it choose the times he had skipped meals to show up? He inhaled again, and the thoughts of Sora were driven almost completely through his mind. His eyelids lowered, and he could taste his own salty venom dripping onto his tongue through his canines.

Well... he _had _skipped breakfast as well... he could find Sora later.

Riku grinned without knowing it and sped off towards the smell.

~|\/|~

Fifteen minutes of chasing that smell and he still had nothing for it. Whatever it was, it was strong. Riku estimated he had ran about two miles so far- that was the least distance the smell could travel. _Lilith, _he couldn't wait to find the source.

It kept on getting stronger and stronger, and damn if he wasn't drooling a river.

Then it flared sharply, and Sora came into his vision.

Riku's bright, hungry eyes widened. _Don't tell me... _He crept forward with a growl.

Sora jerked his head a little, then spun around completely. "Riku! What are _you _doing here? Shouldn't you still be at... erm... school?"

The silver-headed boy wheezed a little at the scent that wasn't going away, even though Sora had clearly gotten to it first. "I... hunting... didn't they have a... hunts-hour at your old school?"

Sora tilted his head, looking confused. "Well, we had a _lunch _hour if that's what you mean."

Riku hummed in response. Lunch hour... that was important somehow, but his head was too clouded to think of why.

Okay. He needed to take care of this _now. _"Lissen... did you kill something and leave it around here?"

Sora got a very funny, nervous look on his face. "Um... kill something, Riku? You mean like an animal?" He took his companion's silence as a yes. "Of course not, I don't just go around randomly killing animals, you know. That'd be mean."

Now it was Riku's turn to be confused.

"But you hunt, right? And that's the same thing."

Sora furrowed his brow and gave an odd, uncertain smile. "Of course I don't hunt, silly, I'm too young to have a gun." He laughed a little. "You and your weird concepts... are you always like that?"

What a very strange boy.

"Uhh... no, I'm not... I gotta get back to school."

"Mmkay, I think I can find my way back this time." At that, Riku whipped around and ran back the way he had come.

And he had never gotten to find the source of that smell...

_Lunch hour..._

Wasn't that something he had read about in a storybook about humans once?

He'd have to ask his mythology teacher.

~|\/|~

"Go on ahead, Tidus, I gotta ask Professor Seph a question."

"Whatever, man, just don't let him hear you calling him that." Tidus let out a short barkish laugh and swaggered away with Wakka and Hayner.

Riku snorted to himself. Part of him wondered what would happen if the Professor _did _hear him- the other part decided they were too young to be maimed and traumatized.

He knocked lightly on the dark, stained wooden door, certain that it had been heard. A light "Come in," sounded form inside.

The professor was not sitting at his desk like Riku expected. Instead, he was staring out the window, presumably at something Riku couldn't see.

"Come to ask your dear old 'Professor Seph' a question, have you?" Riku winced- he had forgotten just how good his professor's hearing was.

"Uhh... yeah. I was wondering about a term I heard a friend use earlier today."

The professor shoved turned his head so he was looking at Riku out of the corner of his eye. "And why would you come to your mythology teacher for that?"

Riku shifted uncomfortably. "Well... I was thinking... it might've been something related to... erm... _humans." _He spoke the last word in a much lower tone than the rest of his sentence.

Sephiroth showed no obvious signs of shock, but Riku could see his shoulders tighten almost imperceptibly.

"What leads you to believe that?"

Riku sighed. "I dunno... I just thought I might've read about it in a storybook sometime or another... does the phrase 'lunch hour' mean anything to you?"

His professor visibly relaxed, and laughed a bit. "Lunch hour...and here I thought you were going to ask about warm blood or lifespans or some such."

Riku shuffled over so he was directly in the older vampire's line of vision. "So... what does it mean?"

Sephiroth shook his silvery head. "I would have thought you could figure that out for yourself, Riku. A lunch hour is like a hunts-hour, only for humans. Supposedly, they eat pre-packed, mostly herbivorious food instead of live raw animals. Humans aren't supposed to be able to kill things very easily by themselves."

Riku nodded, and made to leave, when another thought struck him. "Sir?"

Sephiroth turned around and faced him completely. "Yes, what is it, Riku?"

"If they can't kill things, like you said, then why are we so afraid of them?"

In a matter of seconds, the professor's face got the darkest look Riku had ever seen. He noticed the moon seem to flicker out.

"That... is a question for another time, Riku. You may be excused."

Riku didn't dare argue.

"Yes, sir. Good night, sir."

~|\/|~

Yeah... not much to say... well, all comments, complaints, compliments, and critiques can be easily left in the form of a review... or a pm, but that would be highly impractical, so don't do that. Nutso is very much grateful to those who reviewed last chapter, and will be twice as grateful if anyone reviews again.

~The Bad Nut


	3. Sunhat

Alright, I've decided to get back in the groove with this thing. Truth is, I lose interest very easily, and if not prompted, usually don't finish what I start. I'll try to make this an exception, though.

~|\/|~

Sora gave a showy, exaggerated sigh into his pillow.

A few minutes prior, his mother had blatantly refused to let him go outside. "It would look too suspicious for you to be wandering around in daylight," she had said. "Remember why we had to leave our _last _house?"

Sora remembered, but that didn't make the situation seem any less ridiculous or annoying, in his opinion. Honestly, who _cared _what time he decided to go for a walk? Midnight strolls were all well and good, yes, but sometimes he liked to actually be able to _see_ where he was walking.

He had then complained to his mother even more, asking what was he supposed to do if he couldn't go outside and play. He was made even grouchier when she told him to go take a nap in his room.

"Mom, I can't just decide to be _nocturnal _all of the sudden."

She had sighed and placed the book she was reading in her lap. "Sora, I understand that it's difficult to adapt to the way _they _live, but you have to try a bit harder than that. This is more about survival than comfort."

Sora didn't think that was an adequate response at all. Who was worried about _surviving _nowadays? They weren't living in the Stone Age, for Pete's sake. It wasn't like some giant _animal _would _attack _them were they to walk around unprotected.

Unfortunately, his mother didn't share his views, and demonstrated this fact by sending him to his room, where he was laying now.

He sighed loudly once more. The sun was shining brightly outside his window, illuminating his room even without hitting it directly and boy oh boy, what he wouldn't give to be running around out there right now...

Any onlookers probably wouldn't have been surprised to see him climbing stealthily out of his bedroom window a few minutes later.

Well.

Any _human _onlookers wouldn't have.

~|\/|~

Riku turned over in his silky sheets, ruffling them up irritatedly. Honing his ears in on the other members of the household, he could hear... nothing, which meant they were all probably in suspension. Lucky them. _He _couldn't suspend at all, as it required mental clarity, and he was too busy thinking about the strange new boy and how his mythology teacher had reacted to his last question.

He had never seen Sephiroth turn that angry. The man was usually the epitome of nonchalance, not even taking amusement in the ridiculous arguments his class got into from time to time about certain myths.

Perhaps... Sephiroth had had some sort of connection to humans?

He entertained this thought for a while, then shook his head. Of course, it was impossible for him to have met one. Humans were dangerous. Even Sephiroth wouldn't have been able to survive contact with them for too long.

Maybe he had witnessed someone he knew getting destroyed by them? _That _theory made a lot more sense. Now Riku's curiosity was piqued, and he resolved to find another way to bring it up without getting the professor angry at him.

He groaned as a few stray sunbeams made it through the crack in his curtains. Now he _really _wasn't going to be able to sleep. He sat up and reached over to fix the curtains.

Riku was instantly alert when his sharp eyes caught a sliver of movement through the crack. He braced himself and opened the curtains a bit more, wincing as sunlight hit his skin. However, he forgot his slight discomfort as he witnessed the scene outside.

Sora, the new boy next door, was climbing _out _of hiswindow, into the daylight.

Riku narrowed his eyes in disbelief. Perhaps the boy had some sort of business out there, but for Lilith's sake, he wasn't even wearing any protection from the sun! Only a T-shirt and shorts, which bared his skin to the world.

Was he crazy?

Riku hesitated a moment, then slid off his bed, pulled on an all-black trench coat and cap, and crept out his own window, deciding to find out.

~|\/|~

Sora had to keep himself from whooping with joy as he raced around the corner from his house. His mom didn't even suspect anything! She probably wouldn't come to check on him for hours, she had been so wrapped up in that book of hers...

He slowed his run down to a jog. Now that he was out... what to do?

He meandered around the neighbourhood, thinking it slightly odd that _nobody _was out and about. Sure, his mom had said this was when everyone slept, but usually, even with people who slept at _normal _times, there were a few who stayed up late.

Although, it was usually only the creepos who went outside at night.

But this was daytime, and he'd be able to see anyone coming from blocks away, since he could _see _now.

A little while later, he had decided it was actually rather peaceful to be able to walk along by himself. His senses were on high alert, in a relaxed, sleepy sort of way. It was a bit like the sensation one felt before one fell asleep- very quiet and dreamy and content, yet the slightest disturbance could wrench you right back into the real world.

Thus, he immediately became aware of the black shape that was following him.

He slowed even further, walking now, and put his hands behind his head. Perhaps he could go to the woods and the person would leave? No, that'd be too dangerous. He couldn't go home, he'd be in trouble, and besides, he didn't want whomever it was to know where he lived, just in case.

Well. He could only come up with one other course of action.

Sora stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, did an abrupt about-face, and shouted, "Hi! My name's Sora!..."

... only to discover there was no one there.

He blinked a few times in confusion. Was he imagining things? He had only seen the person out of the corner of his eye, and it was only for a split second. Still... he had that _feeling._

The brunette shrugged, turned back around, and almost yelped in surprise to be met with a broad black chest.

He looked up. "..._Riku?"_

The taller boy laughed. "Boy, Sora, you sure did look pretty funny yelling at no one."

Sora grinned too, though he was slightly confused. "Uh... Riku? Why are you wearing a coat? It's like eighty degrees out." He walked around to the side of Riku, and the other boy turned and walked with him.

"Actually... I have to inquire about what _you're _wearing too," Riku said, eyeing his clothes with a disbelieving expression.

Sora looked down at himself. "_My _clothes? I think this is a pretty normal outfit considering this place's climate. You, on the other hand, are going to sweat to death." He laughed a little, poking at the thick black coat.

Riku laughed as well, if a bit uncertainly. "You weirdo, you know sweat is just a made up concept to get us to shower. Besides... isn't your skin hurting?"

This time, Sora didn't bother to cover up his confusion with anything else. He looked up at Riku with his face scrunched in a questioning look. "Of course not... why would it be? It's not like the air is poisonous or anything."

Riku's face twisted to look disconcerted. "Sora... you know what I mean. Are you wearing some of that new sun protection stuff they've come out with? I've heard it doesn't work very well."

"You mean... sunblock? That's just when I go to the beach, Riku. Are you like... afraid of sunburn or something?" He punched Riku's arm slightly. "Idiot, the sun isn't shining nearly bright enough for us to get burnt _today."_

Riku's serious expression was bewildering Sora more and more. "Sora... c'mon. You need to cover yourself. You're going to get sick."

Sora stopped at the corner and turned to face him fully. "Riku... you're scaring me. What is so bad about sunshine that it's going to make me _sick?"_

Riku made a move as if to suddenly reach out and grab him, but stopped himself. Sora was giving off large feelings of confusion and discomfort. He lowered his head, then looked ahead sharply. "Nevermind. I was... just forget it." He grabbed Sora's arm with one gloved hand, pulling them across the street, and the glove kept him from being able to feel the intense body heat underneath it.

~|\/|~

Sooo, Riku is getting more and more suspicious of Sora. It'll take a little while longer for him to find out the truth, though.

If you've got something on your mind, you can leave one of the four C's as a review, and I'll try to respond in kind. =D I'm also trying to work in answers to some of the questions I've received. See? Your reviews play an active part in the story!

~The Bad Nut


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